Jamie Smith to leave W.H.

Jamie Smith, a deputy White House press secretary, will leave the West Wing on Feb. 7 after four years in the Obama administration.

Smith, an alumnus of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign who has also worked on Capitol Hill and for the Director of National Intelligence, will remain in Washington and join the private sector.

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White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said: “Jamie was one of the first people I hired after I became press secretary. She’s been a wonderful colleague, an excellent deputy and a good and true friend. We’re all going to miss her.”

Valerie Jarrett, White House senior adviser, who worked closely with Smith on many projects, said: “Jamie has been a valued colleague and friend to me, the press, and all at the White House. She brings not only her smarts but warmth and grace to all she does. We will greatly miss her here.”

Smith said in an email: “Having the opportunity to serve our president and our country has been a dream come true. I can’t thank all of my talented and extraordinarily hard working colleagues at the White House and in the press corps enough for this experience. It has been such an honor to work with so many good people.”

Smith added: “On a very personal note, I am especially grateful to President Obama and the larger White House family for the incredible compassion extended to me and my family when my father suddenly became ill and passed away and when I had my first child, Lincoln Rose. The kindness and support I have received has meant more to me than words can possibly express.”

Smith, a special assistant to the president, came to the White House in June, 2011, from the Office of the DNI, where she was director of public affairs during the Arab Spring and the Osama bin Laden raid. Before that, she was communications director for Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) when he was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and later when he chaired the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Smith also served as traveling press director of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. On New Year’s Eve, 2007, she took two days off the campaign trail to marry Eric Pierce, now principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for legislative affairs. Then the two drove from Chicago back to Iowa to meet up with the campaign. The real honeymoon came a year later.

Smith has also been communications director for former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the Albright Group; legislative aide to Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.); and operations manager for issue advocacy at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She’s a native of Buffalo Grove, Ill., and graduated from Kenyon College.